The ends justifies the means, that's the system

Lyric Meaning

Ice-T subscribes to the political philosophy put forth by Niccolo Machiavelli in his Renaissance masterpiece, The Prince. To be an effective ruler of the masses, the outcome of your leadership is justified by the tactics — no matter how unsavory they may be — used to achieve those ends. Here, Ice-T as hustler has plenty of money and success (the “ends”) but achieved it by dealing drugs in his community and likely by perpetrating violence on a number of people (the “means”). This internal conflict is a prevalent theme in hip-hop.